Since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in December 2019, the pandemic has had a significant impact on several sectors of the economy and healthcare services around the world. It has also caused an unprecedented impact on blood transfusions and collection due to large-scale interruptions in the supply and demand of blood. Even though this interruption has been partly mitigated by the postponement of elective surgeries, there is still a lingering demand. Therefore, it is critical to understand the underlying causes of the blood donation decline and the possible consequences.
Research from Hong Kong [1] and China [2] has suggested that anxiety and fear of contracting COVID-19 discouraged people from donating blood. Physical distancing measures, fear of gathering in public spaces, misinformation about methods of disease transmission were also contributing factors [3,4].
Before the pandemic, most blood donation centres have relied on young donors to maintain an adequate inventory - with educational facilities being the primary target for donations. At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic many educational facilities closed or moved to virtual learning platforms making blood drives almost impossible, coupled with donors and employees contracting the virus and, thus, resulting in a decrease in the available blood centre inventory and personnel.
However, WHO provides guidelines on how blood collection centres should be operated during infectious disease outbreaks. They recommend health measures that apply to public facilities since these, unlike medical facilities, are not meant for care of acute patients. Firstly, they highlight the importance of keeping prospective donors aware of the reasons why they should postpone their visits to the centres whenever they are feeling unwell. Secondly, steps should be taken to ensure personnel apply protective procedures to ensure the safety of donors and staff during blood donation.
COVID-19 is not transmitted by blood because blood cells don’t have the binding sites for this virus, unlike cells in the respiratory and digestive systems [5]. More information about how viruses can be transmitted here. However, some of the precautions to avoid contamination include [6,7]:
Educating donors about the procedures to avoid contamination.
Self-deferral of donors at risk.
Physical distancing between donors.
Wearing personal protective equipment.
Application of safety measures to blood donation area.
Provision of quarantine services for different components of blood.
Pathogen inactivation technologies.
Following a haemo-vigilance system.
Each step plays a role in improving safety of donors and staff, and preventing contaminated units from entering the blood supply [8].
All the necessary measures are in place to donate blood safely. Even if some elective surgeries have been postponed, blood is still much needed in many situations. If you want to read more about the process of donating blood or why blood donations are so important, check the posts “Why are blood donations so important?”, “The process of donating blood”, and “What happens to the blood you donate?”.
Check your closest blood centre and donate now, blood saves lives!
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Written by: Phaedra
Edited by: María and Natasha
BioDecoded is a volunteer group committed to sharing accurate scientific information. For more information about vaccines or other scientific processes, please see previous posts or consult with your personal physician. If you have any questions about this topic, please comment or send them to our email.
References:
Leung, J. et al. (2020) “Impact of COVID19 - a regional blood centre’s perspective”, Vox Sanguinis, 115(6): 502–506. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/voxs.12558
Wang, Y. et al. (2020) "Impact of COVID-19 on blood centres in Zhejiang province China", Vox Sanguinis, 115(6), pp. 502-506. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7267653/
Chandler, T., et al. (2021). “Blood donation in times of crisis: early insight into the impact of COVID-19 on blood donors and their motivation to donate across European countries”, Vox Sanguinis, 116(10), 1031-1041. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8250750/#vox13103-bib-0008
Haw, J., et al. (2021). “Blood donation and the global COVID-19 pandemic: areas for social science research”,Vox Sanguinis, 116(4): 363–365. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7323148/
Why you won’t get COVID-19 from a blood transfusion (2022). Canadian Blood Services. Available at: https://www.blood.ca/en/stories/why-you-wont-get-covid-19-from-a-blood-transfusion (Accessed: 27 November 2022).
Mohammadi, S., et al. (2020). “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) and decrease in blood donation: experience of Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO)”, Vox sanguinis. 115,595–596. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/vox.12930
Masser, B. M., et al. (2020). “Exploring predictors of Australian community members' blood donation intentions and blood donation–related behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic”, Transfusion, 60(12), 2907-2917. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32905630/
Sahu, K. K., et al. (2020). “Because every drop counts: blood donation during the COVID-19 pandemic”, Transfusion Clinique et Biologique, 27(3), 105. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7351037/
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